Statistical Properties of the Inter-occurrence Times in the Two-dimensional Stick-slip Model of Earthquakes

Abstract

We study earthquake interval time statistics, paying special attention to inter-occurrence times in the two-dimensional (2D) stick-slip (block-slider) model. Inter-occurrence times are the time interval between successive earthquakes on all faults in a region. We select stiffness and friction parameters as tunable parameters because these physical quantities are considered as essential factors in describing fault dynamics. It is found that inter-occurrence time statistics depend on the parameters. Varying stiffness and friction parameters systematically, we optimize these parameters so as to reproduce the inter-occurrence time statistics in natural seismicity. For an optimal case, earthquakes produced by the model obey the Gutenberg-Richter law, which states that the magnitude-frequency distribution exhibits the power law with an exponent approximately unity.